When you are taught to budget, it usually focuses on getting you to save up and trim down expenses so that you only spend what you can. When you start to actually budget and spend within your means, you usually cut little luxuries off. The first one to go is buying that coffee from the cafe nearby, eating out often or stopping your impulse to shop. At one point though, as you finish paying up a debt or as you get a little raise, very few teach you what to do with that “sudden” extra cash on hand. They train you to save and live within your means but they forget to teach you how to enjoy your money. Enjoying your money doesn’t require you to spend on lavish vacations or extravagant things. It could be as simple as treating yourself to your favorite restaurant, finally taking a sip of that gourmet cappuccino from the cafe across the street or buying yourself a shirt. As you move forward by either paying up a debt or getting a raise, you have to be able to feel it. Of course, you make that monthly savings bigger, however, let’s not forget about the most important investment you can make - YOU. If you don’t allow yourself to enjoy the monetary “fruits of your labor”, you’d end up feeling exhausted and frustrated with the disciplined way of spending your money. You might even end up blowing up all your hard work by spending all your savings to “reward” yourself. Then you’d be back to square one. So go ahead, from time to time, celebrate your extra cash and give yourself the space to enjoy your money responsibly.
Don’t know where to begin with budgeting? Check this free guide.
